Restarting breastfeeding

[MrsG010814]

Hi,

Not sure if anyone can offer any advice.

My son is 3 weeks old on Tuesday and I breastfed him for the first week using a nipple shield due to my nipples being flat. It was going well but then a week in I developed mastitis and was admitted to hospital which was really difficult. While in hospital I made the decision to stop breastfeeding and start formula feeding as I was feeling so unwell and was worried about developing it again and ending up back in hospital. However, I have been feeling very regretful about my decision and so upset that I'm no longer breastfeeding my son. I was wondering if it is possible to start breastfeeding again after stopping almost 2 weeks ago?
I am still leaking so there is still milk there. I also want to be able to breastfeed without the nipple shield but he wasn't able to latch on without it.

Sorry for the long post.

YES IT IS POSSIBLE! Get him on the boob as much as you can to stimulate flow and get down to your local breastfeeding advice cafe for some support.
I stopped breastfeeding at 3 weeks and fed DS a mixture of expressed breastmilk and formula, but I started breastfeeding again when he was 3 months old. I had to stay in the house with my top off for a few days and just feed feed feed, but it worked :)
If it doesn't work out for you, though, please don't feel bad. There's absolutely nothing wrong with feeding your baby formula.
Good luck :)

Thank you for your reply!

I'm going to give it a try tomorrow, dh is back at work after paternity leave so it's just the two of us

I was told before you can restart breastfeeding within 40 days of stopping. If you can afford it you could go to a private lactation consultant

It's not quite the same but my daughter didn't start breastfeeding until 3-4 weeks as she was premature. The midwife advised that I do skin-to-skin with her for half an hour to an hour every day. She advised I lie down in a low lit room with baby on my tummy and let her climb up to find the milk (she did) I am certain that is why she feeds well now. It's also a wonderful bonding experience. Both boobs used to drip with milk as she was making her way to the nipple. She always needed some help near the end - my boobs were too if for her to climb over - haha!!! It was an amazing exercise and I highly recommend it. DD is bf as I type ?? She is 8 weeks and growing well. We used expressed breast milk until bf was established xx